Australian Fire Authorities’ world class exhibition shows off new technology

AFAC16 – Fire and Emergency Management Conference had 2300 delegates from all walks of the emergency services industry, from researchers to practitioner and suppliers at this week’s 2016 conference in Brisbane, Australia.

Not only were the delegate numbers at record levels the exhibition was the largest seen in Australia with 160 exhibitors from 14 countries demonstrating an extensive range of equipment and services.

Drones for fire spotting, control fire lighting and reconnaissance along with robotic fire trucks and new safety features were all part of the display.

Highlights of the exhibition included a live demonstration area that featured The Australasian Road Rescue Organisation (ARRO) who demonstrated severe road crash rescue simulations. Also demonstrated was a virtual fire training system using smoke and special screens by BullEx & HAAGEN. and a fire retardant solution that drops solar panels voltage to zero, removing the risk of explosion, by PV Stop. Smokeshield also demonstrated a fire training simulation. SASGAR Fire and Rescue also displayed the Rosenbauer L20-FA Combined Aerial Pumping Appliance.

More than 400 emergency managers and researchers attended the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre’s (CRC) Research Forum on the first day of the conference, with attendees learning new and innovative ways to keep communities safe from natural hazards.

Dr Richard Thornton, CEO of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC said the combined conference and research forum highlighted the importance of relationships between research and the emergency services. “To have the connectedness that exists and continues to evolve between researchers and emergency management practitioners is fantastic. These critical relationships are increasingly important, and a key aspect of what the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC is about. These partnerships are more important now than ever as we continue to embed research findings into practice,” said Dr Thornton.

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